se and sustenance, not to be abused. It is a judicious observation of the ingenious authors of the Spectator, that If a man commits murder when he is drunk, he must be hanged for it when he is sober.' It is no excuse for any one to say he was guilty of a crime when drunk, because drunkenness itself is a crime; and what he may deem an excuse is only an aggravation of his offence; since it is acknowledg This criminal was born in the county of Berwick, in Scotland, and, having been educated by his parents according to the strictly religious plan prevailing in that country, he was bound apprentice to a sea-faring person at Berwick; and, when he was out of his time, he entered on board a ship in the royal navy, and in this station acquired the character of an expert and valiant scaman. Having served Queen Anne during that he has been guilty of two ing several engagements in the Me- crimes instead of one. diterranean and other seas, he returned to England, with Sparks, who was his shipmate, on whom he committed the murder we have mentioned. After conviction, it was a difficult matter to make Douglas sensible of the enormity of the crime that he had committed; for he supposed that, as he was drunk when he perpetrated the fact, he ought to be considered in the same light as a man who was a lunatic. This unhappy malefactor suffered at Tyburn, on the 27th of Oct. 1714. From his fate and sentiments we may learn the following useful instructions. We see that drunkenness is a crime of a very high nature, since it may lead to the commission of the highest. If this man had not been in a state of intoxication, he would probably never have been guilty of murder. We should remember that the bounties of Providence were sent for our The conclusion to be drawn from this sad story is, that temperance is a capital virtue; and that drunk. enness, as it debauches the under. standing, reduces a man below the level of the beasts that perish.' The offender before us acknowledged, in his last moments, that it was but the forerunner of other crimes: and, as what happened to him may be the case with others, as drunkenness produces quarrels, and quarrels lead to murder, we hope the case of this unhappy man will impress on the minds of our readers the great importance of temperance and sobriety. We see that Douglas had received a very religious education; yet even this was inadequate to preserve him from the fatal effects of a casual intoxication! When men drink too much, and in consequence thereof assault and wound their companions, we may say, in the words of the poet, that 'Death is in the bowl.' ROBERT WHITTY, FELIX O'HARA, & JOSEPH SULLIVAN, EXECUTED FOR HIGH TREASON. WHEN the Earl of Mar and other Scotch noblemen planned the rebellion of 1715, they sent these three men to London, for the purpose of endeavouring to enlist soldiers for the Pretender's service; and, though the business in which they were en gaged was of the most dangerous nature, yet they continued it for some time; but were at length apprehended, brought to trial, and, being convicted, were executed at Tuburn, on the 28th of May, 1715. Robert Whitty was born in Ire land, and, having enlisted for a soldier when young, served in an English regiment in Spain, where being wounded, he was brought to England, and received the bounty of Chelsea College as an out-pensioner. Felix O'Hara, who was about twenty-nine years of age, was likewise an Irishman, and, having lived some time in Dublin as a waiter at a tavern, he saved some money, and entered into business for himself; but, that not answering as he could have wished, he came to London. Joseph Sullivan was a native of Munster, in Ireland, and about the same age as O'Hara. He had for some time served in the Irish brigades, but, obtaining his discharge, he came to England, and was thought a fit agent to engage in the business which cost him and his companions their lives. These men denied, at the time of their trial, that they had been guilty of any crime; and even at the place of execution they attempted to defend their conduct. They all died professing the Roman Catholic religion. JOHN GORDON, WILLIAM KERR, & JOHN DORRELL, EXECUTED FOR HIGH TREASON. ALL the particulars we have been able to learn respecting these men are as follow. They had all of them served as officers in the army during the wars in the reign of Queen Anne, but they were zealous friends to the cause of the Pretender. Having learnt that the rebels had got as far as Lancashire, they appear to have been animated with the hope that success would attend the enterprise; whereupon they held several meetings at a public house in Shoe Lane, London, where they agreed to set off for different parts of the country, to enlist some men to promote the undertaking; and they bound themselves to each other by the most solemn oaths to keep their transactions secret. But they defeated the effects of these oaths almost the moment they took them; for they met so often, and were so careless of what they said, that they were heard by persons who listened at the door of their room; in consequence of which information was given, and they were taken into custody, tried, and, being convicted on full evidence, were hanged and quartered at Tyburn, on the 7th of Dec. 1715. They were the first persons that suffered on account of the rebellion, professed themselves Roman Catholics, and died denying the justice of the sentence against them. COLONEL HENRY OXBURGH, EXECUTED FOR HIGH TREASON. HENRY Oxburgh, Esq. the son of a man of considerable property in Lancashire, having been educated in the most rigid principles of the Roman Catholic religion, was sent abroad, while a youth, into the service of France, in which he acquired the character of a brave and gallant officer. At the close of the war he returned to England to see his friends; and, finding that the rebels were advancing southwards, he raised a regiment, with which he joined the main army before it reached Pres ton. Colonel Oxburgh was the man who ordered the rebels to fire on the royal troops; and, if his opi nion had been taken, the town would not have surrendered as soon as it did. On his trial he pleaded guilty; but, after sentence was passed on him, and he found that every application for mercy was unsuccessful, he talked in a strain very different from that of a man conscious of any crime. He said he consi dered the Pretender as his lawful sovereign, and never deemed himself the subject of any other prince. He even asserted that he would have been equally loyal to the Pretender if he had been a Protestant. This unhappy man, who seems to have fallen a victim to the prejudices of education, was hanged at Tyburn, on the 14th of May, 1716. RICHARD GASCOIGNE, EXECUTED FOR HIGH TREASON. THIS unfortunate man was singularly active in fomenting the rebellion. So zealous was he in the cause, that he mortgaged his whole estate to supply him with money to purchase arms from foreign countries. When the rebels marched towards the south of England, he engaged all the forces he could, and went and joined them, proclaiming the Pretender king at every stage of his march. He was made prisoner by the king's troops at Preston, at the same time as Colonel Oxburgh; and,being arraigned before Lord Chief Justice King, in Westminster Hall, he pleaded not guilty.' On his trial it was proved that some casks of arms, which he had purchased abroad, were found on board a ship, directed to him; and, being found guilty on the clearest evidence, sentence of death was passed on him, in consequence of which he was executed at Tyburn, on the 25th of May, 1716. While he lay under sentence of death, his sentiments appeared to be nearly the same as those of Colonel Oxburgh; and at the place of execution he declared that he did not take up arms with a view to restore the Roman Catholic religion, but solely in behalf of James the Third, whom he deemed his lawful sovereign. THE REVEREND WILLIAM PAUL, EXECUTED FOR HIGH TREASON. peace, who, finding no just cause of detention, dismissed him; on which he continued his journey to Preston, where he read prayers to the rebels three days successively, and prayed for the Pretender, by the name of King James, in the parish church. A short time before the national forces reached Preston, Mr. Paul quitted that place; and, coming to London, disguised himself by wearing coloured clothes, a sword, a laced hat, and a full-bottomed wig. But he had not been long in this disguise before he was met by Mr. Bird, a justice of the peace for Leicestershire, who caused him to be taken into custody, and carried to the house of the Duke of Devonshire, who sent him to the secretary of state for examination; but, as he refused to make any confession, he was delivered to the custody of one of the king's messengers, with whom he remained about a fortnight, and was then committed to Newgate. He was arraigned at Westminster on the 31st of May, and pleaded not guilty on which he was remanded to Newgate, and had time allowed him to prepare his defence. On his return to prison, he sent for a friend; to whom he said, What must I do? I have been this day arraigned, and pleaded not guilty; but that will not avail, for too much will be proved against me.' To this his friend replied, 'I will persuade you to nothing; but, in my opinion, the best way is to confess your fault, ask pardon, and throw yourself on the king's mercy. Mr. Paul said his counsel advised the same, and he was resolved to do so; and, when he was again brought to the bar, he retracted his former plea, and pleaded guilty; in consequence of which sentence of death was passed on him. Being sent back to prison, he made every possible interest for the preservation of his life; for he seemed to have a most singular dread of death, particularly when attended with such disgraceful cir. cumstances as he had reason to apprehend. He wrote a petition to the king, another to the lord chief justice, and letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury, with other letters to clergymen ; in all of which he acknowledged his crime, and his change of sentiments, and interceded for mercy in terms of the most abject humiliation. In a letter to a female relation, he says, I am among the number. of those that are to suffer next Friday.-I cannot think of dying the death of a dog, by the hands of a common executioner, with any manner of patience. Transportation, perpetual imprisonment, or any other condition of life, will be infinitely preferable to so barbarous and insupportable a way of ending it; and means must be found for preventing, or I shall anticipate, the ignominy of the halter, by laying violent hands on myself. Give Mr. Cr to understand that he may promise any thing that he shall think fit in my name; and that his Royal Highness the Prince and his Council shall have no cause to repent of their mercy to me.' All Mr. Paul's petitions, however, proved fruitless; he was ordered for execution, and was attended by a nonjuring clergyman, who endeavoured to inspire him with an idea of the justice of the cause for which he was to yield his life he was, however, dreadfully affected till within a few days of his death, when he began to assume a greater degree of courage. He was executed at Tyburn, on the 18th of July, 1716, being attended by a nonjuring clergyman, having declined the assistance of the Ordinary of Newgate. Just before the cart drew away he made a speech, of which the following is a copy: Good People, 'I am just going to make my appearance in the other world, where I must give an account of all the actions of my past life; and, though I have endeavoured to make my peace with God, by sincerely repenting of all my sins, yet, forasmuch as several of them were of a public nature, I take it to be my duty to declare here, in the face of |